Due to the unique characteristics of different cooking methods, it is often desirable to vary cooking methods for the same or different types of food items. In addition, it is common to prepare meals with a combination of food items that each require a different method of preparation and cooking.
Grilling is a popular method of cooking food items due to the unique flavors and textures imparted to food items during the grilling process. Grilling can be performed out-of-doors with a charcoal or gas grill and can also be performed indoors with a special purpose indoor grill having a dedicated heat source. In addition, grilling can be performed indoors with a grill suitable for use with a common heat source, such as a heating element from a gas or electric range top.
Steam cooking has been long practice in many cultures. For domestic kitchen cooking, food has been typically steamed by placing it in a vessel in which the food is supported above a supply of water which is caused to boil and generate steam to envelop and cook the food. For that purpose, perforated racks, collanders, metal strainers and the like have been used to support the food above the water. Although some prior art multi-purpose cooking implements have been provided which cook or bake food by means of convection air and wherein moisture is added to the cooking area to prevent the food from drying out, most of these prior art implements do not have the ability to cook food by means of steam.
Failure to provide efficient multi-purpose cooking implement allowing for steam cooking has proven to be most unfortunate since steam is a considerably more effective heat transfer medium than hot air. This is due at least in part to the fact that the latent heat of vaporization needed to turn water into steam requires a great deal of thermal energy. When steam is allowed to condense on a food product, this thermal energy is given up directly to the food product hence considerably speeding up the cooking process. An additional benefit of cooking food products with steam is, of course, that it prevents drying up of the food products as would occur if the food products were cooked with dry, hot convection air.
Hence, although the prior art is replete with various types of multi-purpose cooking implements, there still exists a need for an improved cooking device having the ability to employ heat from a common cooking heat source for use in grilling food items while separately or simultaneously cooking other food items by convection, steaming or other methods.
The present invention satisfies the need for such an improved cooking device and comprises a base, a reversible cooking plate, (or separate grill and griddle plates), a rack and a lid. The rack and lid rest upon and are supported by the base. The base includes an annular reservoir surrounding a center opening which opening is aligned with the heat source (e.g., a gas or electric heat source on a range top).
In a preferred configuration, a reversible cooking plate is supported by the base or the rack with alternatively a grilling surface or a griddle surface directed upwardly. In another configuration, a cooking plate is supported by the base and a separate griddle plate is supported by the rack a distance above the cooking plate.
The combination cooking plate may have, on one side, an inclined grilling surface with raised ribs and, on the other side, a horizontal, flat griddle surface. The cooking plate includes a plurality of through holes in a peripheral region which, when the cooking plate is placed upon the base, are aligned over the annular reservoir of the base. As discussed in detail below, the through holes provide passageways for liquid to drain into the reservoir and provide a convenient means to lift and place the cooking plate. Further, the cooking plate includes a drainage channel in the peripheral region, outside the grilling surface for directing liquid and fat toward the through holes and into the reservoir of the base.
The rack has a preferably substantially flat food item support surface that can be comprised of a grid of wires, a perforated plate, or the like. The rack includes supports that extend downwardly from the food item support surface and rest upon a rack supporting surface of the base which is located outside (i.e., radially outwardly) of the grill supporting surface. Thus the rack is placed on the base after the cooking plate, and does not interfere with the cooking plate. When the rack is placed upon the base, the food item support surface is located a distance above the cooking plate.
The lid has a substantially cylindrical side wall, a dome top and may have a combination handle and steam release valve in the center. The lid has a height sufficient to provide clearance between the interior surface of the lid and the rack, when the rack and lid are placed upon the base. This configuration provides a desirable oven-like, convection and/or steaming cooking environment.
The cooking device provides the ability to perform direct contact grilling and griddle cooking of food items, simultaneously or separately with other types of cooking methods, indoors on a conventional stove or in any other suitable cooking environment using any suitable source of heat. The base holds food items placed on the cooking plate at an optimum distance from the heat source and is supported a distance above the housing of the heat source to permit air flow to the heat source and into the cooking device and to reduce the possibility of heat damage to the housing of the heat source. The reservoir of the base holds liquid in the reservoir to create desirable moisture within the cooking device and to prevent flare-up of liquids and fats captured in the cooking process.
Further, a substantial amount of the heat and moisture produced in the cooking process may be retained within the enclosure and reservoir. This improves the cooking efficiency of the device and the quality of the food. It also selectively allows for cooking in a steam cooking mode. Furthermore, the configuration of the cooking tool permits latitude of selection between the extent to which certain foods are cooked by conduction of heat with relationship to the extent the food is cooked by direct condensation of water vapor thereupon.
In addition, the cooking plate is configured to efficiently transfer heat from the heat source to the food items and to impart, when desired, the appearance created by traditional grilling. Further, the easily removable rack and the griddle plate employ the enclosed heat and moisture produced in the cooking process to permit the cooking of other food items simultaneously with or separately from food items prepared on the cooking plate. The cooking device is also configured to reduce the amount of fats and oils in prepared foods thereby providing a health benefit.
In accordance with the present invention, the cooking plate may also be used independently as a cooking adaptor positionable on various types of supporting surfaces. The adaptor is configured so as to provide a cooking surface that is slanted relative to the supporting surface on which it is rested. Also, the adaptor is provided with a drainage aperture extending therethough for allowing drainage of fluids away from the cooking surface.
Liquids generated as by-products of the cooking process are biased by the slant in the cooking surface towards the drainage aperture. A suitable container may be positioned to collect the discharged liquids. The collected liquids may be re-circulated in various forms such as with the proposed cooking device or remain in the container for latter processing.
For example, the adaptor may be removably positioned on the grill of a conventional barbecue appliance with the discharge aperture positioned for collecting the by-products of the cooking process within a container located away from the barbecue. This configuration prevents the liquid by-product of the cooking process from falling through the grill of the barbecue onto the coals or other components of the barbecue, hence reducing the need for cleaning and maintenance.
The cooking surface of the adaptor may be provided with ribs generating markings on the cooked food products similar to that generated by the grill of a conventional barbecue. The ribs may also serve to space the food products from the remainder of the cooking surface for facilitating the release of liquid by-product of cooking from the food.
The adaptor may optionally be provided with flow guiding means and/or flow slowing means for respectively guiding and/or slowing the flow of liquids towards the discharge aperture.
The adaptor may also optionally be provided with heat transfer and/or thermal inertia enhancing means for respectively enhancing the transfer of heat from the heat source to the food and/or the thermal inertia of the adaptor.
The adaptor may further optionally be provided with valve means for selectively allowing and preventing the flow of fluids through the discharge aperture.
The adaptor may still further optionally be provided with an angle adjustment means for allowing adjustment of the angle between the cooking surface and the supporting surface when the adaptor rests on the supporting surface.
The adaptor may yet still optionally be provided with manipulation facilitating means for facilitating the manipulation thereof.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adaptor has a substantially dihedral configuration defining a substantially opposed second cooking surface having different cooking characteristics. Typically, the adaptor is configured so as to be reversible for selective usage of the first or second cooking surface.
The adaptor is also typically configured so that the first and second cooking surfaces respectively extend in substantially angled and parallel relationships relative to the supporting surface when the adaptor is rested on the supporting surface. Typically, the slant of the first cooking surface is provided by a rim extending peripherally from the second cooking surface and the rim typically acts as a flow retaining barrier for the second cooking surface.